November 2012 Archives

I used two articles about the anti-gay marriage marchers protest in France this week. The news story dealt with an issue about the cultural difference which I am not used to. However, there was no stereotype or discrimination about the different culture, and the reporter wrote down the article with the objective voice. The reporter used photos of marchers and described situations in detail not to be subjective with the topic.

Those hoping to use the train to get in and out of downtown Minneapolis should change their plans to plan B.
Metro Transit announced there would be a shutdown, from stations at Target Field to Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis, started Friday evening and will continue until 3:30 a.m. Monday, reported by the CBS Local.
Service along the rest of the 12-mile Hiawatha rail line will operate normally, reported by the Star Tribune.
Metro Transit will supply bus service to the affected stops. Service south of Franklin Avenue should continue as usual.

As crews searched Sunday for a Filipino worker still missing after an oil platform explosion and fire, doctors said one of four men burned in the blaze is improving and is now in fair condition.
The victims were employees of Grand Isle Shipyard Inc., which provides workers to Black Elk Energy Offshore Operations, a Houston-based independent oil and gas company, reported by the USA Today.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which enforces offshore drilling regulations, is investigating.
The incident occurred a day after oil giant BP agreed to pay a record $4.5 billion in penalties the 2010 Gulf oil spill that killed 11 workers and spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil, reported by the Reuters.

Groups opposing President Francois Hollande's plan to legalize gay marriage and adoption took to the streets across Paris Saturday.
The controversial Ukrainian group, topless members have taunted a march, and the Catholic group Civitas organized Sunday's march by several thousand people carrying pro-family banners, reported by the Fox News.
Their final destination was the Invalids monument, the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte, the French leader who invented the country's prized civil code, reported by the USA Today.
It states that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, a point the gay marriage bill seeks to overturn.
A recent survey found that most French favor gay marriage, while support for adoption by gay couples hovers at around 50 percent.

The opening round of the "Border Battle" with the Wisconsin Badgers belongs to Minnesota Friday.
The Badgers were called for two major penalties that helped the Gophers build a big edge in shots on goal in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play in front of a full house of more than 10,079 on Friday night, Nov.16, at Mariucci Arena, reported by the Star Tribune.
The two teams entered the third period tied at 2-2, but Peterson held his ground the rest of the way and finished with 41 saves, reported by the Minnesota Daily.
The Gophers and Badgers will conclude their weekend series Saturday at Mariucci Arena.

Mall of America is tightening its Black Friday policies and will bar unaccompanied minors from the megamall all day Friday, Nov.23.
Despite retailers seeking to persuade more people to spend merrily, children younger than 16 who are not with an adult 21 or older will not be welcomed at the Mall of America on Thanksgiving night or Black Friday. It is also same during the week between Christmas and New Year's reported by the Pioneer Press.
The mall's normal policy is to restrict unaccompanied teenagers on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Unaccompanied teens must provide proof of their age with government-issued identification, reported by the Star Tribune.

In the story, "No. 16 Lady Vols defeat No. 20 Georgia Tech 71 - 54," numbers were used in various ways. Firstly, numbers were used to identify players. They were commented as their back numbers. Secondly, numbers were used to provide scores of games. They were usually said winner's score first, and loser's score was following. Thirdly, numbers were used as statistics. Sometimes, reports used numbers to express how many years players have played, or how many audiences were there in the game. Numbers made the story much easier to be read. The reporter used math to crunch numbers and tell the story effectively to explain to readers.

The United Nations reported that 11,000 Syrians fled to neighboring countries on Friday, the vast majority clambering for safety over the Turkish border, in one of the largest single-day torrents of refugees since the Syrian conflict began.
United Nations refugee agency officials said 9,000 of the fleeing Syrians, many of them drenched from a cold rain, went to Turkey, reported by the Washington Post.
The civil war in Syria has killed more than 36,000 people since an uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March 2011.
The United Nations is warning that the number of people inside Syria needing humanitarian aid could rise sharply, from 2.5 million now to 4 million by early next year, if the civil war grinds on at its deadly pace, reported by the USA Today.

Federal prosecutors have ended their criminal investigation of former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine Friday without charging him.
Fine was accused of molesting a child in 2002, but U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian said Friday that there was not enough evidence to pursue the case.
Last November, former Syracuse ball-boys Bobby Davis and Michael Lang accused Fine of fondling them, starting as teenagers. The statue of limitations on prosecuting those charges had run out, but then several days later Zach Tomaselli accused Fine of attempting to molest him in 2002 while Syracuse was playing in Pittsburgh, reported by the Fox News.
Fine had denied the charges against him but was fired from his job as coach Jim Boeheim's longtime assistant at Syracuse and moved out of the area, reported by the USA Today.
Fine was not immediately available for comment.

Country music star Kenny Chesney is on the bill for another show at the home of the Minnesota Twins, Target Field, next summer, the ball team announced Thursday.
Chesney is bringing his "No Shoes Nation" Tour to the downtown Minneapolis ballpark on July 12, 2012, while the Twins are on an extended road trip, reported by the Seattle Post.
The Zac Brown Band also will perform as part of Chesney's Target Field stop.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on Dec. 7 at 10 a.m., and a pre-sale for all new and renewed Twins season ticket holders is scheduled for Dec. 4., reported by the Star Tribune.

President Barack Obama has won re-election Monday night.
Obama family gathered in Chicago to find out whether they would return to Washington for four years or two months, and they won four more years.
As networks and the Associated Press called Obama the winner, the Minnesota DFL party at the Crown Plaza hotel in St. Paul exploded. People chanted "Four more years," reported by the Minnesota Daily.
Now that Obama won a second term, the White House will become the place the Obama girls grow up. His daughters now will spend the majority of their school years in Washington, and her mother has already said she has to learn how to do laundry before she heads off to college, reported by the USA Today.

Same-sex marriage was legalized in states Tuesday across the country using ballot referendums rather than legislation.
Maine, Maryland, and Washington all voted to allow same-sex couples the right to marry in their states. "We have always understood that there are good people on the other side of this issue," Zach Silk, a spokesman for Washington United for Marriage, said, reported by the NewYork Daily News.
These three join six others plus the District of Columbia in legalizing gay marriage, reported by the Star Tribune.
On Tuesday, Minnesota also became the first state to have voters reject a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. It remains illegal in Minnesota, but since a ban has not been constitutionalized proponents of marriage equality will find an easier path to overthrow the ban.

In an obituary, there are some sources typically needed. There should be addresses, cause of death, past personal problems, flowery phrases, and other terminology. For example, in the obituary of Fred Polkey by the Star Tribune, there were his address, cause of death, diverse quotes from his entourages, his past life, and diverse flowery phrases. It had a standard obituary lead. It had the news value that he was a lifelong Northeaster who mastered accordion.

A Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up near a vehicle carrying the regional head of a government-allied militia in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing him and five others, police and the militant group said.
Several people were also wounded in the blast near a gas station in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The head of the local anti-Taliban militia, was killed along with three guards and two passers-by, reported by the USA Today.
The district of Buner is believed to be a hiding place for the Pakistani Taliban. It is located near the Swat Valley, where the insurgent group shot and wounded 15-year-old education activist Malala Yousufzai last month for criticizing its behavior when it seized the isolated region in 2008, reported by the Seattle Times.

Carolina Panthers fans are likely pretty pleased with their team's ability to win for the first time since Week 2, but one man is likely even happier.
In the 18 presidential elections that have taken place since the Redskins moved to Washington in 1937, 17 have been predicted by the team's
If the Redskins win at home, the incumbent party usually wins the presidential election. If the Redskins lose at home, the challenger usually prevails, reported by the USA Today.
Steve Hirdt of the Elias Sports Bureau, who popularized the rule, claims that while that result should have meant that challenger John Kerry would have won the White House, it still holds true because the Democrats actually won the popular vote in the 2000 election, reported by the Cincinnati USA.

The Minneapolis City Council called on management and musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra to return to the bargaining table Friday.
Musicians have been locked out since they voted Oct. 1 to reject a contract offer that would cut minimum salaries by 32 percent. There was even the contentious labor dispute between Minnesota Orchestra musicians and management, reported by the Star Tribune.
The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra also locked out musicians, and on Thursday canceled all remaining 2012 concerts. The union issued a statement Friday expressing outrage at what it called "management's unwillingness to negotiate any of the terms of the agreement, reported by the Star Tribune.

A 2-year-old Pittsburgh boy was killed at the Pittsburgh zoo by a pack of African painted dogs Sunday morning when he fell off a railing, police said.
When the boy fell, other visitors who saw him immediately told staff members, who responded along with Pittsburgh police. Zookeepers called off some of the dogs, and seven of them immediately went to a back building, reported by the USA Today.
The zoo was immediately closed; it was not clear when it would be reopened, authorities said.
Steve Feldman, a spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said no one he's spoken to can recall any deaths of children at an accredited zoo over the last 40 years or more. Feldman said the Pittsburgh Zoo successfully completed its five-year review in September, which means it meets or exceeds all safety standards, reported by the Star Tribune.

The former President Bill Clinton, sent from the Obama campaign, spoke to an excited, student-heavy crowd of about 1,800 at McNamara Alumni Center in the University of Minnesota Tuesday morning.
He deeply endorsed Obama and his policies in his speech, which touched on a variety of issues such as global warming, health care, women's rights and the economy.
"Obama is far more likely to keep us moving toward a more perfect union instead of being divided by ideology, by economics, by politics," Clinton said, reported by the Star Tribune.
It is no mystery why Obama would want to link himself to Clinton. Despite impeachment and other controversies in the 1990s, Clinton remains popular with a public that recalls the boom economy during his administration, reported by the USA Today.
On the same day, in Duluth, Clinton delivered a similar message to an overflow crowd. He warned of "the rise of the far right" threatening the country, Duluth News Tribune reported.